Indicator



June 24 1924. 1,498,565

c w. MURR Y ET AL INDICATOR Filed April 27, 1923 Patented June 24, 1924?.

(3. WILLIAM MURRAY AND JOSEPH F. BURKE, or ronoiv'ro, ONTARIO, CANADA.

INDICATOR.

Application filed April 27, 1923. SerialNo. 634,963.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, C. WVILLIAM MURRAY and Josnrn F. BURKE, both of the. city of Toronto, in the county of York, Province of. Ontario, Canada, subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to indicators for use on mail boxes. Heretofore it has been the practice in some rural districts to secure a mail box on a pivoted arm which normally lies in one direction to indicate that the mail collector is not to call and is adapted to be swung in another direction to indicate mail has been deposited in the box. This arrangement has not worked satisfactorily as the Weather elements shift the position of the box and our object is to provide a simple device adapted to be attached to a mail box which will give reliable indication and thus overcome the above objectionable feature.

\Ve attain our object by means of the constructions hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mail box showing our device attached thereto, one position being indicated in full lines and the other position in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the device show ing particularly the movement of the indicator while passing from one position to the other; and

Fig. 3 an end elevation of the same.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

1 is an arm provided with a slot 2 adapted for the passage of the shank of a headed pin which is secured to a plate l. On this plate is pivoted at 9 an operating lever 5 having a pivotal connection 6 with the end of the arm 1 adjacent its slot. The lever is provided with an integral hand grip 7, which is formed by bending the free end of the lever to any shape of hand grip de sired. The free end of the arm 1 is provided with a disk 8 the position of which is governed by the operating lever 5. Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that when the arm 1 is at rest in either of its two positions the pivotal connection 6 has been moved, by means of the pin and slot connection 2 and 8, past the line of centres of the pivots 3 and 9, thus locking the device from accidental movement.

The device is specially adapted for use on a mail box as used in the rural districts to indicate to the mail collector whether mail has been deposited in the box or not. The plate 4 is provided with a plurality of holes through which the screws or bolts 10 are passed for securing the device to the box. Preferably the device is so located on the side of the box that the disk 8 when swung to its upper position will be higher than the top of the box and when swung to its lower position the disk will be lower than the box top. It is also desirable to have the disk and the box painted in contrasting colors.

What we claim is 1. A11 indicator comprising an indicating arm having a pin and slot connection with a stationary part; and operating means adapted to actuate the arm in acombined circular and longitudinal movement to vary the position of the arm.

2. An indicator comprising an indicating arm having a pin and slot connection with a stationary part; and an operating lever pivoted on a stationary part and adapted to actuate the arm in a combined circular and longitudinal movement.

3. An indicator comprising an arm provided with a semaphore at one end and having a pin and slot connection with a station ary part; and an operating lever pivoted on a stationary part and pivotally connected with the end of the arm remote from the semaphore to actuate the arm in a combined circular and longitudinal movement.

4. An indicator comprising an arm having a pin and slot connection with a stationary part; and an operating lever pivoted on a stationary part and pivotally connected with the arm and adapted to swing it through an arc to bring the last mentioned pivotal connection past the line of centers of the first two mentioned pivots.

5. An indicator comprising an indicating arm having a pin and slot connection with a stationary part whereby it may be swung from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position; and an operating lever pivoted on a stationary part and pivotally connected With the lower end of the said indicating arm, the said pivotal connections being so arranged that a move- FI- ment of the lever through an arc of substantially 90 Will actuate the arm through its range of movement whereby the last mentioned pivotal connection will be moved past the line of centers of the first two mentioned pivots. 10 Signed at Toronto, Canada, this 21st day of April, 1923.

C WILLIAIVI WIRRAY JOSEPH F. BURKE. 

